There are many techniques that can be used to determine a location of a mobile device within an environment, such as a retail, factory, warehouse, or other indoor environment, for example. These can include locationing a radio communication device using radio frequency techniques, for example. However, radio frequency techniques do not provide a high degree of locationing accuracy.
Other techniques such as through the use of radio frequency based tags could also be used, for example. However, these other techniques require the installation of hardware within the environment, which adds cost.
Accordingly, there is a need for a technique to locate a mobile device in an indoor environment without modifying the mobile device hardware and without requiring additional expensive hardware within the environment for locationing purposes. It would also be beneficial if this technique could provide high locationing accuracy and a high positioning update rate.
Skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of embodiments of the present invention.
The apparatus and method components have been represented where appropriate by conventional symbols in the drawings, showing only those specific details that are pertinent to understanding the embodiments of the present invention so as not to obscure the disclosure with details that will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of the description herein.